Composer. He is recognized as a 20th century Cuban-American composer of world-wide fame and being credited with 600 pieces. Although a prolific composer of songs and music for stage and film, Ernesto Lecuona remains most widely known for his piano compositions. While demonstrating a varied range of pianistic oeuvre, the performances made evident Lecuona's astonishing virtuosity as well as improvisatory gift. Lecuona stands as a link between the virtuoso pianistic tradition of the late 19th century and the widened musical expression of the modern era that incorporated idioms ranging from jazz to popular Latin American dance rhythms. Yet, it may still come as a surprise the composer of "Malaguena" and "Aragon" was also a leader of a New York dance band, Lecuona's Cuban Boys, and a renowned interpreter of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." "Andalucia," "Gitanerias" and the celebrated "Malaguena", three of six pieces from the 1919 Suite Espanola figure on this recording. The characteristic dance rhythms of the southern Iberian Peninsula mark these pieces and reveal a vision of Spain as compelling and colorful as that of Bizet, Debussy or Ravel. Other evocative Spanish piano pieces include "Ante el Escorial," "Valencia mora" and "Zambra gitana." Two were published in 1929 and 1930, the latter designated danzas Afro-Cubanas. These singular important collections represent assimilation of the lyricism, elaborate meters and rhythms of popular Cuban music with bravura pianistic style. In addition to these dances, Lecuona wrote numerous piezas caracteristicas, or character pieces, genres of solo keyboard works of distinct form and sustained mood. The character pieces are distinguished by their variety, from the brilliance of the "Mazurka en glisado" to the quietude of the nocturne "Preludio en la noche." "Bell Flower," one of Tres miniaturas that include "Cajita de musica" and "Polichinela," exemplifies the unrestrained exuberance of Lecuona's salon music style. The composer also cultivated concert waltzes, some of which, in the tradition of Chopin exude brilliance, others are marked by melancholy and romantic sentiment, notably "Vals de Las sombras" and "Poetico." As a child prodigy, he composed his first song at the age of 11, graduated from Havana Conservatory with a gold medal at age 15, and performed in New York City at age 17. After touring Spanish-speaking countries, he toured Europe with much success. His composition "Always in My Heart" was nominated for the 1942 Academy Award for Best Song but the song "White Christmas" received the award. With the Cuban politics changing under Fidel Castro's leadership, he relocated to Tampa, Florida in 1960, and the last three years of his life were in the Canary Islands. Although his last resting place is in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, his will left instructions that his remains are to be repatriated to Cuba after Castro's régime.